Marks and Spencer fully support the goals of Race Online 2012 and is on track to help engage and support its customers, staff, and stakeholders to take full advantage of the benefits of the net.

So far, all 75,000 M&S staff have been offered the opportunity to use their paid volunteer day to assist charities supporting older and socially disadvantaged individuals with online training. Current updates to the M&S Plan A website will also include details of the Race Online 2012 campaign to encourage and engage M&S customers to get involved and help pass on their IT skills.

Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, with its 3653 secondary schools, 457 special schools and 600 primary schools, is playing an extremely important role in helping to achieve a networked nation.

Through its national community conference, for which Martha delivered a keynote speech, the SSAT has encouraged secondary, primary and special schools that are SSAT members to recruit digital champions among their staff, students and parents to support family, friends and the wider community to take their first steps online. The SSAT has also, through its communications to schools, encouraged members to engage with Race Online 2012.

With over 30 years’ business and IT experience, Anthony, 57, from Etchingham decided to give something back to his community by deploying his IT skills.

Realising that his valuable handiness on a PC could help others, Anthony is running workshops for internet beginners’ in his village. “My inspiration comes from being able to give back to my local community,” he says, “and demand has been fantastic!” Sessions so far have already helped 20 people get online for the first time!

According to Anthony, “there are many folk who, due to rural location, age, lack of mobility or opportunity, or no-one

With over 5,000 members in Lancashire, Youth Action is an independent organisation working with young people aged 18-24 to build skills, abilities and confidence and to help them give something back to the community.

With great success, young champs have been passing on their skills to internet beginners.Involved at every stage, they’ve been inspiring locals and putting up promotional posters. 1:1 sessions are now being held daily; adapted according to the individual motivations and needs of the learner, while complete beginners’ are covering basics, including how to use a mouse and keyboard. Others are learning how to search for

Every day, more than half of McDonald’s 85,000 employees log on to its employee engagement website, ourlounge.co.uk, to access to info, advice and guidance to improve well-being.

Originally pledging to support its staff to benefit from the net, McDonald’s has awarded over 21,000 qualifications to employees, all of which required online learning; there’s been a large increase in collegial support too!

Lorraine (right), is a McDonald’s digital champion in Bridlington; she’s using her skills and McDonald’s reputation as a trusted place with free Wi-Fi, to help people in her local area get online. Could you use the facilities in your

The UK’s largest provider of affordable housing and care and support services, Home Group, considers helping its residents to benefit from being online to be a key part of its role in helping its customers and clients open doors to new opportunities and healthy lives. As a result, it held 5 internet training sessions across the North East.

Dress code: Posh frocks and tuxedos

Location: at the end of a red carpet

At each session, 15-20 people came along and 98{a5b7970aed6bc6c43cc2e7d6e3c429d137483f4158e62a10a211b4ee5d30f265} of attendees said they were looking forward to getting back on to the internet as soon

Three Mobile is taking the net to the people in its mobile broadband bus, helping people get more out of life online through its Community Connection Project, and working with other Race Online 2012 partners to provide low cost PC/ broadband solutions.

The UK’s first mobile broadband provider, Three worked with Microsoft in December 2010 to deliver the ‘Gifting the Web’ for Christmas campaign. Backed by extensive marketing, ‘Gifting the Web’ provided great low-cost hardware and an affordable broadband solution. It was followed in May by another low cost PC/ broadband offer as part of Get Online @ Home.

The UK’s trade union learning and skills body, Unionlearn, is making a vital contribution to the Race Online 2012 campaign. Half of UNISON members surveyed this summer said that thelack of digital savviness was their greatest skills-gap – preventing work, union and community activity. It follows that addressing low digital skills is core to the organisation’s social justice objectives.

Unionlearn pledged to recruit 820 digital champions from across the UK’s 6.2million-strong trade union membership, to encourage more employers to also join the campaign and to ensure anyone leaving work – whether through redundancy or retirement – does so with internet

98.8{a5b7970aed6bc6c43cc2e7d6e3c429d137483f4158e62a10a211b4ee5d30f265} of 16-24-year-olds use the internet and their terrific skills can be deployed to help off-liners benefit.

Race Online 2012 partner the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is putting the internet at the heart of the charity, believing that helping people online is a “fun and practical volunteering opportunity, whilst contributing to positive social change”.

It’s been driving this message through its newsletters, DofE magazine and social media channels to inspire its participants to get involved and help someone who’s off-line. The DofE newsletter alone reaches 21,000 people (leaders, participants and volunteers) and the September 2010 edition of

Dementia costs the UK £23bn a year – more than cancer and heart disease combined – and by 2025, there will be more 1 million sufferers.

People with dementia respond well to online material and media, so a new approach is being led by Finerday.com, the e-accessible, inter-generational platform, designed to help older or disabled people and their families and carers use the net to share messages, photos and memories.

It’s just launched OurYesterday.org, a free website offering interesting and entertaining reminiscence, nostalgia and memories for older people, carers, and families to share. The content is designed to support